By J.R. Brower
In an effort to guide development in Peters Township for the next 20 years, Peters Township Council took the initial step of initiating its comprehensive land use plan at its May 14 meeting.
State law requires municipalities to enact new comprehensive plans every 10 years, and the process is not an inexpensive one.
“Peters is still a growing community, but we need to look at options for the future, not just growth,” said Township Manager Michael Silvestri. He said that the importance of this plan lies in the fact that the township must begin to look for different sources of revenue other than those from development and property taxes.
Although the township had budgeted $100,000 for implementing a plan, council chose a consulting firm that offered to do the work for $163,000, LSL Planning, Inc. A total of 15 firms offered proposals for the work, and four were interviewed and recommended by council. Several of those firms offered to do the work for under the $100,000 budgeted amount, but council was impressed with LSL Planning’s proposal to complete the work in 13 months as opposed to the 18 months estimated by some of the other firms. Their plan also calls for using 1,110 man hours for the project, which was significantly more than some of the competing firms.
Councilman James Berquist said that he was very impressed with LSL Planning’s presentation, saying that he liked their “out-of-the-box” thinking. Township Planning Director Ed Zuk said that a major part of LSL Planning’s proposal is for community outreach. Regarding the implementation of the comprehensive plan, Council Chairman Robert Lewis said, “We definitely need input from the whole community.”
A motion to finalize a plan with LSL was approved by council by a 6-1 vote. Councilman Gary Steigel voted against the measure, stating that he felt that the cost was too high.
Silvestri said that township staff members will try to negotiate lowering firm’s costs before a final contract is signed with them.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 31 May 2012 20:58 |
